Magna Mundi Cancelled

[CountArach]

Everything I ever wanted in a game... gone...

Linky

Hi all,

today Paradox Interactive decided to cancel Magna Mundi. It will not see the light of day under the current set up: Universo Virtual (UV) will not be part of this project any more.

The reasons for cancelling the contract with Universo Virtual include the following:

- Lack of progress; we have seen this project drag on and the code we have gotten has not shown significant improvement for many months. Some old and known problems persists and new ones appear with each delivery.

- Lack of trust; the leadership of UV has given a sunshine version of the project to Paradox and reacted with irritation and anger when we have pointed out obvious problems with the deliveries. It has come to a point where they claim the project is done, and the game is ready for release – despite the many critical issues found and reported on our end.

- Internal strife within the MM team; we have gotten information from members within the MM team desperate to save the project whom report to us that the project lacks active leadership. Key personnel in the project see what Paradox sees but instead gets silenced by the UV leadership.

All in all, these are not circumstances under which we can work with a team and it will now stop. At this point we have no more news than the above.

Sincerely and regretfully,
Mattias Lilja
Executive Producer for Magna Mundi

[rickinator9]

It will not see the light of day under the current set up: Universo Virtual (UV) will not be part of this project any more.

Paradox is prolly gonna complete it. The devs said everything is largely done, but that there are crashes and might have been a reason to sack that team.

[Vladimir]

Sux.

[TinCow]

- Lack of trust; the leadership of UV has given a sunshine version of the project to Paradox and reacted with irritation and anger when we have pointed out obvious problems with the deliveries. It has come to a point where they claim the project is done, and the game is ready for release – despite the many critical issues found and reported on our end.

This doesn't surprise me at all. I used to play a lot of Magna Mundi, and frequently read the subforum over at the Paradox site. Ubik always struck me as incredibly stuck-up and self-centered, with no interest in anyone's opinion other than his own. Clearly his attitude was an actual character flaw and not just frustration with having to deal with a lot of whiny players. It shows a distinct lack of professionalism to let something like this impact employment.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

He posts here sometimes :P Or at least he did. :/

[Monk]

He posts here sometimes :P Or at least he did. :/

He only posted here to talk about the standalone version of MM and then only after someone, I think TC, expressed doubt this would ever actually amount to something.

As for the news: Sad. Always sad to see a professional relationship breakdown but not really surprising given the media they had been releasing of MM. Had a bad feeling about this one for a while. The thread linked in the OP is pretty entertaining, though. Apologists are funny.

[TinCow]

He only posted here to talk about the standalone version of MM and then only after someone, I think TC, expressed doubt this would ever actually amount to something.

Wasn't me, but basically yes. He probably found the thread via google or something. I remember his first post well, as it struck me as typically ubik. He basically registered and posted just to say that if people found the game difficult, they were playing it wrong, and any imbecile should be able to see that. It wasn't so much the content of his response that was wrong (he was correct about what he was saying), it was the delivery. It was very confrontational and belittling, and pretty much stated that criticisms of the game were because the criticizers were dumb. That's a poor attitude to take when actively going out to boost support for your first foray into professional development. That single post pretty much eliminated any desire I had to buy a finished version of the game, despite having put hundreds of hours into the mod version.

[TinCow]

Now it gets fun.

[HopAlongBunny]

Now it gets fun.

And visions of bill-able hours danced in their heads...

[TinCow]

The way people are talking about the leaked version on the Paradox site makes me think Ubik had nothing to do with it. Specifically, it seems like the leak shows the state of MM in a really bad light, confirming all of the bugs and crashing issues that Paradox was talking about. In addition, there are comments in a readme that are kind of sarcastic and negative towards the game, which is not what one would expect from a Ubik release. In general, it looks like a leak from a beta tester, possibly to discredit Ubik further. It certainly puts Ubik at a further legal disadvantage because of the awkwardness of the timing of the leak, as well as the fact that it seems to confirm everything Paradox was saying, but I wouldn't guess it would result in any criminal charges against him. He's just going to get a short, sharp lesson in what it's like to be involved in a lawsuit that goes heavily against him.

[Voigtkampf]

To my knowledge, there can't be any criminal charges, only civil charges. Criminal charges are brought forward ex officio, while this will be a suit filed by Paradox as plaintiff, I guess.

[TinCow]

Based on the way Ubik was talking, I would expect that he would be the one filing the suit. The status quo appears to heavily favor Paradox, and they do not seem to have much to gain from suing Ubik. Blood from a stone and whatnot. Paradox might counterclaim for strategic purposes, but it doesn't really feel like they're the aggrieved party here. Ubik's lost his income, his game, his reputation, and most of his company. Mainly a question of how much he's going to wrack up in legal fees before he gives up the ghost.

[Voigtkampf]

Since Bethesda vs Interplay legal dispute, no verdict from US courts can surprise me anymore...